Hard to Hold

If you are going to go through all the trouble of making a movie, how much more of an effort is it to make it somewhat clever, or at the very least moderately fun? This looks like a quickie vehicle slapped together to capitalize on Rick Springfield's 80s popularity. It was his era; he could have belched the alphabet and it would have gone gold. Expanding on that theory, we have "Hard To Hold" as the cramp-producing result.The woman he is pursuing is all wrong for him; you cannot possibly get what he sees in her. She is totally unsympathetic, unlikeable and miserable, seemingly in a chronic PMS state for the majority of the movie. Someone should have given Patti Hansen more to do, as her character lends the only semblance of crediblity to this career-squelching morass of mediocrity.

If you were a teenager in the 1980's, as I was, you probably would've liked this movie. I'd taped it off the TV and watched it probably 10 times, although I haven't seen it in 20 years. It would likely be impossible to find it on DVD now. The plot line is fairly simple and the characters rather wooden, causing you to look forward to the performance videos. It does have some sweet moments however. I wanted my hair styled just like Rick's when I was 17 or so. I even took the video to the hairdressers for her to see, but couldn't match it. The soundtrack is a collection of great eighties Rick music too - Love Somebody is an underrated classic.

This movie could have been better but because of the limited nature of the story line I think that people didn't get the chance to see what a good actor Rick really is.

The story to me seemed to be half done in that it couldn't decide whether to be a comedy or a drama. And I just couldn't feel the chemistry between his character Jamy and the love interest Diana (Janet Eilber) While I think that Patti Hansen's character of Niki Nides got unfortunately left in the background, and left under developed due to the material each one had been given to work with (or the lack of it).

The soundtrack for this movie had some of Rick's best works on it written by him. No small feat and it also had some other really standout musicians on it (Peter Gabriel, Graham Parker, and Nona Hendryx) And the real shame in this is that the movie was so poorly done in the wriitng, directing, and some of the other character actors involved it managed to somehow sink the soundtrack where by unfortunately and VERY unfairly sealing Rick's possible fate as a washed up teen idol. Which is NOT the title that a man of his talent deserves How sad!

Jamie Roberts (Rick Springfield) is a pop music superstar. He gives concerts, gyrates across the stage, and the crowd, mostly women, swoons. But, this gets old after awhile and he has been feeling somewhat restless. Borrowing a car after a show, Jamie gets into a minor traffic accident with a pretty schoolteacher, Diana (Janet Eilber) and he likes what he sees. However, she doesn't care if he is the richest man out there, she likes Tony Bennett and sane lifestyles. Nevertheless, when Jamie shows up below her apartment building in San Francisco and has a Tony-lookalike serenade her, she can't help but invite the good-looking singer into her apartment for an evening. Yet, she doesn't see any future between the two of them and tries to resist the start of any relationship. But, Jamie is relentless and they begin to go out as a couple. Can a teacher of troubled children who scorns "top 40" music really be a good match for a rock star? All right, I know, this film is the definitive guilty pleasure, for its strengths are mainly the looks and voice of one Rick Springfield. He has a smile that melts hearts and his goofy yet sincere portrayal of a rock star goes a long way to making the film attractive to a mostly female audience. Eilber is pretty and competent as the love interest and the supporting cast is quite nice as well. As for the setting in San Francisco, it is gorgeous, the costumes are nice, and the production values are strong. Yes, the plot is somewhat silly and unbelievable but the direction keeps the story going. The soundtrack, too, will either be very appealing or dismissive, depending on whether you are a fan of Springfield's. In short, if you adore little Ricky but you have never seen this film, get it soon. Toes will curl and chests will sigh over the Aussie singer's rare movie appearance.

The previous poster states that Rick has "no-talent". That is such a ridiculous statement considering Rick is a Grammy award winner and i'm sure has had more top 20 singles than the poster has! So, what I would like to comment on about this movie is that I enjoyed it. Is it a masterpiece? Of course not, but the music was great and there were some funny and touching scenes. It was entertaining and that is all I ask of a movie.

In my eyes Rick is very talented. The previous poster should remember that old saying that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Obviously a lot of other people see Rick with the same eye as I do. :-)